Schumer kills Mayorkas impeachment, Republicans say vulnerable Democrats will pay heavy price

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) used his power on Wednesday to kill two articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas sent to the Senate by the House, but Republicans say that vulnerable Democrats may pay the price for their votes to do so.

Schumer made a point of order to declare the impeachment articles unconstitutional, and Democrats unanimously voted to do so.

Ordinarily, when articles of impeachment are sent to the Senate, they are required to hold a trial to examine whether they are valid before voting whether to convict the person being impeached.

In this case, however, Schumer made the argument that the impeachment articles were not proper because they were related to policy and not Mayorkas's conduct of "high crimes or misdemeanors," so he felt justified in dismissing them.

The accusations

The articles were 19 pages long and included many accusations that Mayorkas failed to uphold U.S. immigration law by allowing illegal immigrants to come into the U.S. in violation of the law.

His violations were flagrant and part of the Biden administration's policy of allowing huge numbers of illegal border crossers to enter the country and stay here while their asylum claims are pending, even though only a tiny fraction are likely to be approved.

A trial would have brought Mayorkas's conduct to the public and reflected poorly on President Joe Biden's immigration policies, but Schumer has managed to short circuit that for now.

Republicans are still hoping Democrats in vulnerable Senate seats will be harmed by their vote to sweep Mayorkas's (and Biden's) conduct under the rug.

"Every Democrat will pay a heavy price"

"Every Democrat will pay a heavy price in November for willfully refusing to end this border crisis," said Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) after the trial was tabled.

"History will not be forgiving of Democrats' decision to table this hearing," echoed Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS). "The American people will hold Mayorkas accountable at the ballot box this November."

The most vulnerable Democrat Senators are Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jon Tester (D-MT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV). All voted with Schumer to table the impeachment without holding a trial.

"The American people will hold Senate Democrats accountable for this shameful display," House Republican leaders said in a joint statement.

Republicans are looking to flip at least two Senate seats to gain the majority next year.

If they only flip one seat but win the presidency, they will still have a technical majority with 50 votes plus the Vice President, who serves as the President of the Senate.